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The Sokal affair has drawn attention to the relativism and possibly sloppy thinking in academic fields such as "history, sociology and philosophy of science" (Sokal 1997). One relevant field is nearly always omitted - science education.
The same problems that are focused in the Sokal affair have been debated in science education journals during most of the 1990s; the relativist paradigm in science and mathematics education is called "constructivism" and criticism of it has been presented by, among several others, Matthews (1992, 1994) and Osborne (1996). Explicit connections to postmodern philosophers such as Rorty, Latour and Woolgar are made (Osborne 1996, 58-59). Additionally, in some constructivist response to the criticism one can even notice a method of argumentation similar to the "ambiguous assertions, which can be given two alternate readings: one as interesting, radical, and grossly false; the other as boring and trivially true" that Sokal (1997) writes about. The numerous bold statements about the existence of an outside world and the possibilities of obtaining any knowledge at all about it that Matthews and others refer to are commented by Duit (1994, xxxiv) as follows :
"Radical constructivism is consistent with the idea of a real existing world outside. All it denies is the possibility of any certain knowledge of that reality."
Naturally, most if not all scientists are aware of the tentative and probabilistic nature of their knowledge.
The possibility that the standards of stringent logics not being what they used to be in social sciences such as education is an explanation for the fact that constructivists have not been affected by the criticism was presented by Solomon (1994, 13).
The debate over constructivism as a paradigm in educational science started well before Sokal's 1996 parody in Social Text or even the 1994 book "Higher Superstition" by Gross and Levitt. Yet, relativism in educational science has not received nearly as much attention as that in other fields - despite the fact that educational theories that form a basis for curricula, teacher education and eventually the education provided to millions of children have far greater social consequences than theories of abstract philosophy or sociology. Searching for an explanation to this would be a legitimate and interesting research problem for the social sciences. The relative silence over educational issues in mass media before and during the Sokal affair may also provide the ultimate legitimation for the choice of parody as a way of conveying a message.
REFERENCES
Duit, R. (1994) : Research on students' conceptions - developments and trends. In : Helga Pfundt/Reinders Duit : Students' Alternative Frameworks and Science Education (bibliography), Institute for Science Education, Kiel University, 4th Edition.
Matthews, M.R. (1992) : Old wine in new bottles : a problem with constructivist epistemology. Philosophy of Education Society Yearbook 1992. Distributed electronically at http://www.ed.uiuc.edu/COE/EPS/PES-Yearbook/92_docs/Matthews.HTM
Matthews, M.R. (1994): "Discontent with constructivism". Studies in Science Education 24, 165-172
Osborne, J.F. (1996) : Beyond constructivism. Science Education 80, 1, 53-82
Sokal, A. (1997) : What the Social Text Affair Does and Does Not Prove. Article to appear in: A House Built on Sand: Flaws in the Cultural Studies Account of Science, edited by Noretta Koertge (Oxford University Press, 1997)
Solomon, J. (1994) : The rise and fall of constructivism. Studies in Science Education 23, 1-19.